


Toe the Line

by ForensicSpider98



Series: Love After the Fact [29]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, All this stress is bad for the baby, Altean Adam (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Balmeran Hunk (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Galra Shiro (Voltron), Galran Prince Keith (Voltron), Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Multi, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Olkari Pidge | Katie Holt, Post-War, it's keith. keith is the baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23815177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForensicSpider98/pseuds/ForensicSpider98
Summary: Lance isn't creepy! He swears he's not creepy!This is basically fluffy filler, so like... the cocoa pebbles of breakfast cereal? Idk eat it and enjoy(I promise this is the right title/ summary this time lmfao)
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Alfor/Coran (Voltron), Allura/Lotor/Romelle (Voltron), Haggar/Zarkon (Voltron), Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Love After the Fact [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635043
Comments: 13
Kudos: 199





	Toe the Line

“Okay, so what you want to do is follow and flee from my toes.”

“Excuse me?” Keith’s flat stare has Lance biting his lip. “Don’t laugh at me! It’s not my fault!”

“How can you dispatch soldiers with such grace and yet you’re the most awkward dancer I’ve ever had the misfortune to be paired with?” Lance’s scales gleam with his amusement.

“Because kicking ass is important. This is not important.” Keith glares at his awkward feet. “This is the exact opposite of important.”

“It’s extremely important- Hey.” Lance moves his hand from Keith’s waist to his chin, encourages him to meet his gaze. “Don’t look at your feet; look at me.”

“But if I look at you I- Sorry!” Keith’s ears wilt as he moves his foot off of Lance’s. 

Lance just laughs, scales glittering with light. He playfully steps on Keith’s foot in return. “It’s fine. You’re fine, beloved. Just look at me and follow. Your feet will figure it out.”

He can’t. He’s too busy glaring at his feet. He doesn’t know how to do this. He doesn’t _want_ to do this. 

They're in a random sitting room, all the furniture pushed up against the walls so they have space. Light, airy music filters through a system of speakers. Keith doesn't know how to dance, and frankly never cared to. He still doesn't, in fact. But he was informed by Alfor this morning that he must learn, and quickly, so here he is.

“Beloved,” Lance murmurs. Keith sighs, forces himself to look at his spouse. That delicate brown hand reclaims his waist. “One step at a time, okay? We’ve got this. Let me lead. You follow. I know you like being in control, but I know what I’m doing and this is how Adam wants it.”

“I’m starting to think Adam just wants me to be female.”

“You think so?” Lance asks, frowning. Keith’s gratified that Lance doesn’t seem to like that, doesn’t dismiss him immediately. He manages to keep moving without stepping on Lance’s toes again, but he’s still stiff and awkward.

“That’s how it feels. Seems my womb is the only thing people around here care about.”

“Well, it is. In a way.” Lance gently guides Keith into a new step. “See, we are not people, you and I. We cannot be. The difference is that I am something more, and you are something less.”

“Gee, thanks.” Keith stumbles, regains his composure. Lance gently reorders their feet. The Altean has far more patience. Keith envies that.

“Adam’s coaching has made you likeable. It has made you relatively safe. But the one thing my father and I can agree on is that we must be more than people. We must be untouchable.”

“How the fuck does that work?” That somehow still feels like being less to Keith.

“Charisma and perceived power. Which you have none of. But don’t worry. We’ll find you some.”

“Yeah…” Keith sighs, steps forward as Lance steps back, as those delicate hands coax him to follow, to keep them together- Oh. Keith can work with that. He’ll keep them together. That can be his job.

“Good! Hey, you’re doing really good!” Lance grins at him, spins him out, draws him back in. Silent communication, Keith thinks. _Physical_ communication. He smiles, ears perking just a bit. “There’s that smile! You’re doing great, beloved.”

“Thanks…” Keith’s ears are still tipped back and out just a bit, Lance notices.

“What’s bothering you?”

“I… I’m not sure how to explain it.”

“You don’t like it, do you?” Lance whispers. The music tinkles along in the background, but Keith barely hears. “You don’t like what Adam’s asking of you.”

“I’m not your wife, or your pet, or a decoration, which is exactly what he seems to think. I guess I've just grown tired of it?”

“So… Don’t do that.”

“I thought you wanted the people to like me,” Keith grumbles glaring back down to his feet again.

“I think you’re extremely likeable. You’re reserved, clever, sassy. Pretty. You don’t need to be my pet. Frankly, I find the idea repulsive.”

“You…” Keith’s brows crinkle up, a cute little frown crossing his face. His ear twitches with a sudden wave of shyness. As a poorly-socialized runt, he doesn’t get compliments like that very often. Never, actually. “You think I’m pretty?”

Those dark eyes peer up at him through thick eyelashes, and Lance is reminded once again that he’s terrible. A terrible person, and a weak one. “W- Well, yeah. I mean… Y- You’re very pretty, y’know, for a person. Any person. I mean, beautiful even, as far as people go. Like all people. Of all ages. I’m not creepy! I swear I’m not creepy!”

Keith laughs, admiring the way Lance’s blush creeps up to his pretty, pointed ears. He’s never seen the charismatic Altean so awkward. It’s reassuring, in a way, to see him so flustered. It makes him seem closer, not so far above Keith.

He chooses not to mention that many Galra find their mate before their final growth. He imagines it’ll make the next few phoebs more interesting.

“I think you’re pretty, too,” Keith whispers. “Especially when you babble like that.” 

This automatically leads to more babbling, until Lance finally takes a deep breath and says, ever so eloquently, “You dance good.”

Keith smiles, ear twitching shyly. “Not bad for some backwoods kit, huh?”

“Not bad for anybody, beloved.”

“Right.” Keith doesn’t buy it for a tick. He knows what an inconvenience he’s been-

“I literally do not care, Keith. I don’t care where you came from, or where you grew up- Well, no. that’s not true. I care about that very much. It’s a part of who you are. What I mean is-”

“Lance, it’s fine. You don’t have to-”

“ _What I mean is_ it doesn’t bother me. Not a thing about you bothers me.” Lance smiles, watching Keith’s ears hit that angle to indicate his embarrassment.

Lance had it wrong when Keith first arrived. Keith can be very expressive when he’s comfortable. Meaning that the only conclusion Lance can draw from what he’s currently looking at is that Keith is comfortable with him.

It causes some kind of unfamiliar, fluttering warmth in his chest. It feels like there’s a small bird hovering in his chest, tiny wings brushing against his insides. He feels guilty, standing here with this kit in his arms, his feelings threatening to burst out.

He’s not _physically_ attracted to Keith, of course. It doesn’t matter how old he looks; attach the word ‘kit’ or any equivalent to someone, and Lance is immediately turned off. But beauty is subjective, and everyone one has some aesthetic that endears them. He finds Keith beautiful, and it makes his heart feel warm.

How is he supposed to feel, spending so much of his time with Keith, a complex blend of shy and fierce, timid and outgoing, impenetrable and vulnerable? It’s like the Ancients are playing some terrible trick on him, blessing him with something he can never truly have.

“Is something wrong?” Keith asks, head cocked. Those violet eyes shine so bright, mouth held in a tiny frown.

Lance smiles, because what else can he do? “Not a thing.”

He squeezes Keith’s hand, uses the one on his waist to pull them closer together. Keith feels the warmth between them, finds he doesn’t mind. He’s heard the worry in Lance’s words.

Keith understands the difficult position they’re in, knows exactly where that poorly hidden worry comes from, but with Lance guiding him so carefully, he doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all. He feels safe.

Safe enough to later groan along with the rest of the court when Lady Seran stomps in to complain about how someone looked at her kits funny. The poorly suppressed smile curling Lance’s lips feels like a reward.

When Keith takes Lance's hand on the arms of their thrones, it’s a matter of choice, not duty.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time on Love After the Fact: Keith has a new experience, and Lance gets to enjoy it.


End file.
